Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, Jan. 14. The text is John 1:43-51 . There is a cycle of discipleship that causes the church to grow: First is Jesus’ invitation to follow him, followed by the invitation to come and see. Then we are told what we will see, which is akin to receiving teaching and growing in faith. When this cycle is perpetuated and reproduced over and over in the lives of Christ’s followers, the church grows. This may sound a little crass, but it’s like the message on a bottle of shampoo: lather, rinse, repeat. In today’s gospel reading we see the lather, rinse, repeat of discipleship. First, we have Jesus’ invitation to follow him. Jesus found Philip. Philip didn’t search high and low for Jesus. We cannot find Jesus. He isn’t lost, for one thing. Jesus finds us. After finding Philip, Jesus says, “Follow me.” That’s good enough for Philip. “What is not obvious is the mysterious, inward, hidden work of God i...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018. The text was Genesis 1:1-5.   I’m sure most of us, at one time or another, have watched Sesame Street—either as children, or with our own children or grandchildren. One of my favorite things on the program is when they show a number of images and ask, “Which one of these is not like the other ones?” Well, I must say that those words came to me as I looked over the scripture lessons for today I understand how the gospel story of Jesus’ baptism and the story from Acts regarding baptism fit together, but Genesis? That seemed to be the one thing that was not like the other things. Let’s see if we can get a handle on the creation and how it relates to the Baptism of Our Lord. Have you ever seen an image from the Hubble telescope? I recently saw one that contains around 10,000 galaxies, including some that were not visible in previous imaging. It was so beautiful and was suc...

This is what I shared with St. Timothy Lutheran Church in our weekly eministry. It is my thoughts about the upcoming scriptures for this Sunday, the Baptism of Our Lord. Genesis 1:1-5 1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. REFLECTION I’m sure most of us, at one time or another, have watched Sesame Street—either as children, or with our own children or grandchildren. One of my favorite things on the program is when they show a number of images and ask, “Which one of these is not like the other ones?” Well, I must say that those words occurred to me as I loo...

This is the sermon I preached on Christmas Eve at St.Timothy Lutheran Church and at the combined worship service of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church . The text was Luke 2:1-14 . During Advent and Christmas, we are presented with the idea that Christmas is a magical time and anything is possible because after all, it is Christmas. We see this in television shows and the movies, especially the schmaltzy Hallmark movies that many of us love. But our personal reality is often quite different. This is a time when people suffer from depression, from their first Christmas without a loved one, from illness, you name it. For many, it isn’t all magic and happiness. After all the shopping, cleaning, cooking and preparing and after trying to make ends meet; keeping a distraught family together, struggling to get a job and worrying about a loved one serving overseas—after all the stuff that makes our lives crazy—the short, simple, peaceful word that we are of...

In the 1980s, my family and I lived in Palestine, in Bethlehem. Christmas, obviously, was a very special time. We would have a 3 day Christmas Feast for Muslims, where university students would pour into the Friendship Center that we worked in. The stories below, especially the one by Carrie, really struck me and brought the memories flooding back from so long ago. https://www.livinglutheran.org/2017/12/joy-to-the-world/

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches. The text was 1Thessalonians 5:16-24. Today is the third Sunday of Advent, also known as gaudete or rejoice Sunday. We are near the end of our advent pilgrimage and that much closer to the celebration of our Lord’s birth and so there is much to rejoice about. Today’s epistle   reading begins with the words, “Rejoice always” (v. 16). The more I looked at this reading, the more I noticed a whole lot of “dos” and “don’ts.” In fact, the chorus of the 1970 song, “Signs,” by the Five Man Electric Band came to mind:   “Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” The first four verses are filled with the “Do this, don’t do that[s].” It seems like Paul is laying down rules for the Thessalonians and for us, what we Lutherans would refer to as law. The verbs in this passage are all plural. Paul is not a...